260 STUDIES, SCIENTIFIC AND SOCIAL 



obtained from accumulated wealth which is, in its very 

 nature, transitory and perishable, would have been taken 

 away, and the result would, I maintain, be wholly beneficial 

 to the community. 



Some Objections Answered. 



Among the objections that will be made to this proposed 

 reform it will no doubt be said that on the system of short 

 terminable payments to cover interest and repayment of 

 principle, capitalists would not lend money and consequently 

 no good national or local work would be effected. But the 

 fact is that they could be much better effected without 

 borrowing money, whenever the proposed works were such 

 as would be remunerative, while all other necessary works 

 could be done in the same way, but of course would have 

 to be paid for by some kind of public or private contribu- 

 tions. The following experiment shows how easily this may 

 be done. 



In the island of Guernsey some years ago a market- 

 place was much wanted, and the Government of the island 

 having determined to build it, issued notes, inscribed 

 " Guernsey Market Notes," for £1 each, and numbered 

 from one to four thousand, £4,000 being the estimated 

 cost of the market. With these notes the Government 

 paid the contractor, the contractor paid his men, and the 

 men bought all the necessaries they required, as the notes 

 were a legal tender in the island. They were used to pay 

 rent, to pay taxes, and for all other purposes. When the 

 market was finished, it immediately produced a revenue, 

 and this revenue was applied to redeem the notes ; and in 

 ten years all were redeemed, and henceforth to the present 

 time the market returns a considerable revenue to the 

 Government of the island, which goes to reduce taxation ; 

 and all this was done without borrowing any money or 

 paying any interest. 



Now here is a principle, applied on a small scale by a 

 small self-governing community, which is capable of a 

 very extensive application. All remunerative public 

 works could be executed by some such method ; while if 

 it is urged that some works, like sanitary improvements, 



